David Amoo scores on debut as Tranmere Rovers beat Crawley Town

IT WAS difficult to judge who caused the greater buzz of excitement at Prenton Park: new signing David Amoo, who notched a goal on his debut, or returning early-season hero Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, who saw his first action since October during the final 25 minutes.

IT WAS difficult to judge who caused the greater buzz of excitement at Prenton Park: new signing David Amoo, who notched a goal on his debut, or returning early-season hero Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, who saw his first action since October during the final 25 minutes.

Each of them made contributions to the victory over Crawley Town that suggested they will have important roles to play in the final months of Tranmere’s promotion challenge.

Amoo, a 21-year-old recruited from Preston last week on a contract running until the end of the season, shares with Akpa Akpro a quality that is an essential ingredient of Rovers’ unexpected success this season: electric pace.

The former Liverpool reserve team player started the afternoon as a central striker and proved himself a handful for the Crawley defenders for the best part of an hour.

Amoo was just beginning to tire – understandably so given his modest ration of recent first-team action with Preston – when he was moved out wide to accommodate the 67th minute arrival of Akpa Akpro.

The Frenchman showed no sign that the metatarsal injury he sustained three months ago has taken the edge off his game. The quality that adds an extra element of threat to Akpro Akpro’s speed over the ground is his ability to keep the ball under tight control on the run. There’s glue on his boots.

Crawley understood the danger very well from the teams’ first meeting in September.

Akpa Akpro didn’t get a chance to score this time, if only because the officials made a couple of disputed decision – one for a foul, another for offside side – that prevented him from running clear on goal.

Manager Ronnie Moore was in a position to experiment in the final half-hour because Tranmere did the spadework of building a two-goal advantage in the first half.

After the adjustments, Rovers had a line-up that included a useful 4 x 100 meter relay team in Akpa Akpro, Amoo, Zoumana Bakayogo and Michael O’Halloran.

The opening goal by Amoo on 30 minutes and another, credited to Bakayogo on 39, gave Rovers the rare cushion of an interval lead.

Unusually for a team that has won four games on the bounce, it was only the second time they lead at the halfway point of a League One game since October.

They had to do a fair amount of defending during the second half as the visitors made determined efforts to force their way back into the contest. Manager Richie Barker thought his team deserved a tangible reward for their efforts.

Fortunately for Rovers, the defending was a good deal more robust and composed than in the 5-0 FA Cup defeat at Derby County a week earlier.

Goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams made a couple of sharp saves, dealt well with some dangerously flighted crosses and enjoyed one slice of fortune when Crawley could not capitalise on his failure to hold on to an awkward, skidding shot from Mike Jones on 37 minutes.

Billy Clarke was first to the rebound and stabbed his effort against the outside of the left-hand post.

Centre back Ash Taylor, up against a resourceful and difficult opponents in Gary Alexander, won every important ball challenge and was close to topping off a fine personal performance with a goal. His spectacular half volley on 47 minutes struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced to safety.

Taylor’s excellence was matched by the formidable contribution in midfield of Liam Palmer. The 21-year-old does not have the blistering acceleration of the sprint quartet but he has a motor that carries him from box to box the 90 minutes without faltering.

The efforts of Palmer and central midfield partner Max Power helped Tranmere to take an ever stronger grip in the first half, after Crawley started the game brightly.

Set up with a 4-5-1 formation designed to limit Rovers’ room for manoeuvre in midfield, the visitors might have taken a 13th minute lead when Alexander got the better of Donervorn Daniels on the edge of the box but shot straight at Fon Williams.

The escape followed 60 seconds after Palmer wasted an opportunity at the other end, heading tamely at goalkeeper Paul Jones after Adam McGurk had delivered an inch perfect cross to the far post. A header back into the path of Amoo would almost certainly have produced a goal.

Palmer, still waiting for his first Tranmere goal, was thwarted by Jones’ reaction save after Power swept in a dangerous cross into the box on 30 minutes. This time Amoo was on hand to pounce on the rebound and score from eight yards.

Rovers struck again on 39 minutes. Crawley were opened up by a simple pass from Andy Robinson played into the path of Bakayogo’s overlapping gallop down the left. The Frenchman was close to the dead ball line when he played across, which deceived Paul Jones in flight. The ball struck the top of the far post, rebounded against the goalkeeper and bounced into the net. Technically it was an own goal but it is unlikely Jones will contest the official credit to Bakayogo.

After Taylor put his effort against the woodwork two minutes from the restart, the centre back became increasingly busy in his own half of the field.

Crawley created half chances rather than clear-cut openings. Fon Williams dealt well with Josh Simpson’s shot on the turn and a similar effort from Clarke on 82 minutes.

The visitors, committed to throwing men forward, lived on their nerves and the offside trap through the second half, mindful that Tranmere had the pace to catch them on the counter attack if they could fine the right pass.

Moore looked after the back of the shop by introducing Danny Harrison in a defensive midfield role on 75 minutes to prevent Clarke from exploiting space just in front of the back four.

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The Editor

Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.